Up to the bones (Tomco)

Chapter 19- As the years pass

Fever

The first time Marco felt a fever, he thought it was a simple common cold, because it happened during the change of season, from winter to spring.

The second time, a couple of months later, he knew he was wrong.

On both occasions, he was bedridden for a week, a week of which he remembered little and nothing. Only fleeting visions of his parents taking care of him, of a girl with long blond hair who put a wet cloth on his forehead, and of a boy with lilac skin with three eyes who gave him water to drink.

He had strange dreams, that he did not know exactly when he decided to write down, or when he had taken the pen and started writing. They were not unpleasant dreams: weeks after his first encounter with fever, he began to read those notebooks, with a trembling but persistent letter. He read about a whole afternoon spent with his grandmother, the same one who received him on that occasion, while they cooked something for a family party. I was glad to see it, because it was not Day of the Dead.

After that first week, the body hurt for a couple of days, but then he discovered that he knew how to better control his wings, his claws, his voice becoming more serious.

When the second time came, she had enough consciousness to hug her mother and tell her that her grandmother was proud of her, that she had been a better person than she thought. It was the first time he knew it was okay to go back to sleep while his mother cried.

.-.

Learning to dance

-This is something weird- Marco said, looking at the demon in front of him who was holding his waist.

-Rare? - Three eyes looked at him, curious.

-It's ... something stiff. As if we were representing a play.

Tom smiled, and a giggle escaped him.

-It's something like that, Marco. Life in the court is very similar to a representation. That's why so many names and titles.

- Why are they so important? That is to say -to whom do you want to give ... an image? Who cares?

- They care. And, when you have to use diplomacy, intimidation or some strategy, it can be a decisive factor.

-It says who wears punk-rock style clothes in their day to day.

"And I brought him when he goes to Earth." He leaned down and gave her a short kiss on the lips. "Besides, you're not the only one learning, Marco. You were almost as popular as me at the last annual dance, and there are things you can teach me. To balance.

-Swing?

-You can teach me to dance vertical in public, and I can show you some tricks to dance horizontally in private.

Tom laughed at Marco's blush.

.-.

How to master a language

"This letter is pronounced louder, almost like growling," Tom said, pointing to something that looked more like a Gothic rune. He repeated the sound of the lyrics.

Marco tried to imitate him, but the intonation was not correct.

- How do they pronounce it those who do not have your vocal cords? - He asked, somewhat frustrated.

-With practice- he smiled, and in that smile was something of the tension of the boy with wings -There is no need to hurry, Marco. You already know a couple of languages.

-And I want to learn more. Star taught me some words in Mewniano, but there are things ... things that I do not understand from hell.

-You can always ask me